This invention relates generally to floor treating and conditioning machines and in particular to a side skirt air barrier for use on a floor sweeping and/or cleaning machine.
Machines which prepare and treat surfaces by sweeping, and/or cleaning are known in the art (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,892,008 and 5,394,586). Such machines often include a rotary brush or brushes which are used to sweep particulate matter and debris into a collection chamber or chambers. The rotary brush or brushes are usually positioned so that a portion of the brush or brushes extend beyond a protective housing and towards a surface to be treated. During operation of such machines, lightweight particulate matter is often admixed in to the atmosphere and expelled beyond the confines of the bodies of the machines in an action commonly known as dusting and/or deposited in debris trails along the sides of the machines in an action commonly known as side trailing.
Various devices have been developed to minimize dusting and side trailing, most notably with the provision of air handling units and skirting. The inclusion of an air handling unit such as a fan is used to create and maintain a relatively negative pressure differential in and around the rotary brush housing. Typically, such a negative pressure differential induces ambient, external air to flow from the area adjacent the brush housing through a series of collection chambers and filters located within the surface treating machine. While this reduces the amount of dusting and side trailing by a substantial amount, significant amounts of dusting and side trailing may be generated when the air flow induced by the fan is overwhelmed by localized positive pressure differential areas generated by the brush as it contacts a surface. As a result, dusting and side trailing may occur at the ends of the brush.
Side skirts and other air barriers have been devised to minimize the effect of the aforementioned localized positive pressure areas. Typically, side skirts comprise relatively flexible planar members which are positioned proximate the ends of a brush. These skirts have drawbacks, however. Thick skirts do not easily deflect when encountering obstructions. As a result, they are subject to tearing and misalignment. And, thin skirts tend to become warped due to contact with surfaces to be treated.
More recently, side skirting has been improved (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,018,844 assigned to the Tennant Company, assignee herein). Such side skirting comprises a plurality of layers of relatively flexible material which are attached to each other by elastic spacer elements in a parallel relationship. The use of flexible material in the aforementioned side skirt permits more intimate contact with surfaces to be cleaned. An advantage of such close contact is that dusting and debris trail formation are reduced and the efficiency of the attendant suction fan is increased. A feature of the aforementioned skirt is that it is positioned so that it angles inwardly toward a surface to be treated. This position presents an angled planar surface which assists in directing debris into the air flow generated by the fan. Another feature of the skirt is that the elastic spacer elements allow the skirt to be momentarily deflected as is passes over and by relatively immovable objects. Coincident with this feature of the skirt is that it includes a channel located between and formed by the elastic spacer elements. The channel assists in directing the flow of air generated by a suction fan into collection chambers in the machine.
This skirt is not without drawbacks, however. In order to operate as intended, the air channels must be sufficiently wide to allow an effective amount of air to pass therethrough. This results in a relatively thick assembly which adds to the overall width of the machine. Ancillary to this drawback is that such an assembly requires the use of specially designed, angled bracket which adds to the overall width of the machine. Yet another drawback is that fabrication is rather complicated. Still another drawback is that the inclusion of an air channel effectively limits the fabrication of such a skirt assembly into relatively simple and inefficient planar configurations.
There is a need for a side skirt which may be easily fabricated, have a relatively thin profile, and which may be formed into a variety of configurations.
A skirt apparatus or air barrier for use with a surface treating apparatus of the type having at least one movable implement substantially disposed within a housing. The skirt includes a first or inner flexible, member and a second or outer flexible member. The first and second flexible members are coupled to each other in such a manner as to impart a non-planar shape to the first member. The non-planar shape is achieved by differentially coupling the first and second members together. This is accomplished by predetermining a plurality of attachment regions for each of the inner and outer members and then coupling the inner and outer members together at their respective attachment regions. The particular attachment regions may be located at various locations and be of a particular shape and size, depending upon the desired configuration desired. Preferably, the inner and outer members are formed from rubber or rubber-like material with the outer member being slightly thicker than the inner member. The resulting assembled skirt has an inherent flexibility that allows it to be momentarily deflected as it passes over and by relatively immovable objects.
An object of the present invention is to simplify assembly of a skirt.
Another object of the present invention is to increase the number of configurations into which a skirt may be formed.
Yet another object of the present invention is to reduce the number of components used to fabricate a skirt.
Still another object of the present invention is to increase the efficiency by which a skirt directs airflow around an implement housing of a surface treatment apparatus.
A feature of the present invention is the use of two flexible members, attached to each other at predetermined regions, to create a skirt with a non-planar configuration.
Another feature of the present invention is that attachment of the skirt to a surface treating apparatus is simplified and results in a more compact structure.
Another feature of the present invention is that an assembled skirt has inherent flexibility to enable it to be momentarily deflected as is passes over and by a relatively immovable object.
An advantage of the present invention is that fabrication is accomplished with a minimum number of parts.
These, and other objects, features and advantages will become more readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings.